Rethink Reveals Version of Baxter Industrial Robot for Researchers

Rethink Robotics is giving researchers an ability to get up close and personal with its Baxter industrial robot, with a new research version they can use to build custom software and applications for the robot.

The Baxter Research Robot -- a two-armed humanoid robot much like its commercial counterpart and with the same $22,000 price tag -- includes a software development kit designed for ROS, the Robot Operating System standard on which Baxter runs. Developers can use the software to develop custom applications that leverage the robot’s built-in sensors, such as cameras, force, sonar, and rangefinder.

Rethink Robotics is offering a research version of its Baxter industrial robot powered by a software development kit. The robot costs $22,000 and is aimed at giving robotics researchers an opportunity to create new software for Baxter, a robot designed to work side-by-side with humans safety and intuitively. (Source: Rethink Robotics)

“Our goal with launching the Baxter Research Robot is to offer an affordable system for researchers to develop apps to perform a myriad of tasks,” Mitch Rosenberg, Rethink's vice president of marketing and product management, told Design News in an email:

Of course, many researchers will be manufacturing engineering teams at large manufacturers. We’re ultimately hoping our introduction of an open hardware platform will result in big ideas in terms of software applications and end effectors, much like software did for computers and apps for smartphones. The possibilities are limitless.

The hardware for the research version of Baxter is exactly the same on both versions of the robot; the only difference is in the software that is installed, Rosenberg told us. While the manufacturing version of Baxter is pre-programmed for training in industrial work, the research version comes with the SDK, giving developers a blank canvas to program the robot. Developers can communicate with Baxter’s development workstation via an Ethernet connection and a network address, Rosenberg said.

Though he wouldn’t venture to guess what kind of applications might come from offering a programmable Baxter to the research community, Rosenberg said there are a number of aspects of the robot’s functionality that can be developed using the SDK. “Researchers are able to focus on fundamental goals such as object manipulation, human-robot interactions, collaborative robotics, robot adaptation to changes in its environment, and arm trajectory planning.”

Researchers at MIT and Tufts, among others, are already working with the Baxter Research Robot.

Rethink Robotics unveiled Baxter last year and positioned the robot as a major step forward for industrial robot design. Key to Baxter’s design is its more humanoid appearance and ability to work safely alongside humans on the factory floor by sensing its environment through built-in software and sensors. The robot also is easy to train, so it can take on an assortment of tasks. Traditionally, industrial robots have looked more machine-like, often have to be caged off to protect human workers from any possible malfunction, and are programmed to perform one specific function.

Thanks again for the clarification, Ann. Surgical robots seems like a good place to open up the technology as well for the reasons you point out in your story--price point and complexity. Have there been results in terms of how it has advanced that particular platform?

That's what I thought you were asking. As a commercial robot supplier--although a very new one--Rethink is definitely doing something different by opening up their hardware platform. This has already been done by researchers designing surgical robots, as we covered herehttp://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=239419

Yes, that definitely seems like a unique value proposition, Al, especially since hardware and software development are two very different sides of the same coin. Those developing software and those developing hardware are usually not the same folks, so this definitely makes it easier for those on the software side of the house to program Baxter.

Thanks for the clarification, Ann. What I was asking was somewhere between what both you and Rob answered--ie, has a commercial robot platform been opened up this way. I'm familiar with Willow Garage, and of course as you not there are a lot of open robotics platforms in the hobbyist world mainly, is that right? Sounds like Rethink is doing something a bit different for the commercial platform, which personally I think is a good thing.

I think what makes this unique is that Rethink has developed its system using open software but now is making its humanoid hardware platform (with all of the development that went into it) available for research purposes. Researchers can concentrate solely on software solutions with than many problems already solved for them. Very interesting development.

Elizabeth, I'm not aware this open system approach has been used in robotics. I don't think it's been used much at all. I'd like to hear from those who have seen in used in other contexts. Google results were stellar. They gave away the platform and it because the leading platform for smartphones.

I agree, Apresher, this does make for a potent development environment. It's good to see open source moving into new territory. It will be interesting to see what comes of this. It will depend on whether robotic engineers eagerly take to this model. The jury's out on that question.

Elizabeth, I'm not sure what question you're asking. Opening up robot platform development is not a novel idea--that's why ROS exists, and at least one other robot company Willow Garage, has done more or less the same thing, including providing its robot hardware for tinkering. But WG wasn't originally formed to just make robots commercially, so that part is a relatively new idea. Also, ROS has been extended to industrial robots. We've covered the development of open-source robotic development in several posts:http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=245355http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?

Rob, I asked a question in my last comment and you kind of answer it. Google is one company that used this model to its success. I was wondering if it's ever been done with a robotic platform before. I imagine probably not, but perhaps this will set a precedent for the future, if it goes well. Savvy move, too, on Rethink's part, as they are pushing Baxter as a real innovation and are going for innovation in development as well by offering a research version.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

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